Tired of Being Alone
by Lady1Venus
Summary: Sakura is tired of her mundane life and someone is there to help spruce it up
1. Part 1

_Author's Notes: 1000 word Drabble for Ookamiakai from deviantART_

**Christmas Gift for Ookamiakai**

Sakura sat on a bench alone. On days like this she felt she was completely alone. Yeah she had her friends but they were all away on assignments. Besides working at the hospital, she barely had time for her friends or anything else for that matter. By the time she would get some time off, she spent it alone and it was beginning to get on her nerves about it. But what could she do?

For about the thousandth time, she gave a heavy sigh, wondering what to do. It was a warm summer day, nearly too warm to do anything. Being distracted on what to do, she never felt someone approach her with a very familiar chakra signature. His footfalls were heavy enough to probably be noticed but she didn't notice and her uninvited guest was quick to see that.

"A ninja should never drop their guard, even when in the safety of her own village," greeted a very familiar lazy sounding voice.

Sakura jumped, turning to the sound of the voice, hair whipping around her face. "Kakashi-Sensei!" she squeaked.

"Sakura it's been two years since the Fourth Shinobi War, we are comrades in arms. No longer am I your Sensei. We're partners."

She nodded, getting her nerves back under control. "I know," she answered. "And you weren't even our Sensei months leading up to the war either, but back then you were still higher rank than me."

"That maybe so but you're now a Jonin. We're on equal terms." Seeing there was an unoccupied space beside her, he took a seat beside her, leaning his arms on his knees. "So what seems to be troubling you? Judging by the look on your face and the way you were distracted something is bugging you."

She snorted. "How is it you can do that? You read those darn hentai books and yet seem to know everything in what's going on around you."

"You know I can't give you that answer. A shinobi…"

"Yes, I know…" she sighed. "Never gives away his secrets." She took a deep breath. "Life is so mundane lately."

"How is that? You take jobs don't you?"

"That's exactly my point," she replied. "I get up, go to the hospital work a shift there then go home. I'll sometimes get requested for a quest but the moment I get back it's back to work as usual. Lately all my friends are away on assignments and there's nothing for me to do after my shift at the hospital. Life has been rather peaceful since the defeat of Kabuto and Akatuski…"

"But?"

"Oh, I don't know. Perhaps I'm just getting bored of the single life. Naruto has Hinata. Ino has Sasuke, since he returned to the village and atoned for his crimes. Shikamaru's dating Temari. Everyone has lives outside of their ninja work."

"Being single can have its advantages," Kakashi tried to reason but he could see where she was going with this. He knew from the time he met when she was still a 'little girl' and didn't realize just how dangerous being a shinobi really was until her mission to the Land of Waves, she would not enjoy the single life forever. He was actually amazed she made it this far. She was now 19, legal age to marry and to be with whom ever she pleased. There were no restrictions on who she could date. Her range of men was wide open for the taking, but he often seen her turn down date after date and now she seemed to be regretting those rejections.

"Besides the fact, you're single?" she asked sarcastically. "Kakashi-Sensei you chose that life because you've taken on more deadly jobs than I can even imagine. You told me yourself you were Jonin at the age I graduated from the academy. I could never compare to you in that aspect."

"Not many can," he answered honestly. "Sakura, what do you want out of life besides continuing your life as a shinobi. I know you still want to fight."

"Yes I do but…" she paused to look over at the man who always wore a mask over his face. Never once did she see what was behind the mask. "I would like to go home and have someone to talk to about my day. To share meals with and who knows maybe start a family of my own to carry on the Haruno name or maybe the name of the man I would be with."

"Then perhaps you should stop rejecting dates people ask of you," he suggested.

"But none of them interest me," she huffed as she looked down at her feet. "I want someone who is strong, can fight on his own, won't treat me like a fragile piece of glass…" she then snorted, lifting her head to look at him. "I want someone with your type of calibre."

Kakashi blinked, surprised by this. Would it be even possible? She was of legal age, after all. But it would be weird as he knew her when was just a child, but that seemed like a lifetime ago.

"Well not you specifically," she rushed out, turning away, hair framing around her face, preventing him from seeing a blush form. "I'm just meaning…"

"Sakura…" he said in a hushed tone as his hand reached out, to take hers, surprising her, forcing her to look up. "I know what you're asking. I may be single and like to read 'hentai' books, but I'm not as absent minded as many may think."

Her green eyes stared into his uncovered onyx eye and saw something she wasn't sure she could tell what it was, but knew it wasn't his usual look. Faster than she thought was even possible, his face was right up against hers as bare lips were covering her own in a gentle, sweet kiss.

He soon moved away and stood. "Think about it." With that he then stood, leaving her stunned in his wake.


	2. Part 2

_Author's Notes: For those who haven't read or remotely up to speed with the manga, fare warning this contains some spoilers but also fiction as well. I haven't read the manga but have seen and heard of some of the spoilers that have happened during the 4th Shinobi War. I take pride in searching spoilers as I'm not picky about spoilers. I prefer them especially in cases like if characters are going to die, then I can be well prepared for it to happen._

**Part 2**

Sakura continued to sit on the bench as her former Sensei stood and walked away. He had kissed her. Two fingers lifted up to rest against her lips where she could still feel the tingling sensation of his kiss. She blinked several times realizing at that second he had kissed her without his mask. She never saw him remove the mask to kiss her nor put it back up when he stood and turned away from her.

"Kakashi…" she breathed. What did that kiss mean? Why did he kiss her?

Numbly, she stood and slowly began to walk back to her apartment. After the attack with Pein, Sakura decided it was time to move out of her parents home and into her own place. She now was living on her own since she was 17, well more 16 since it was when she was 16 when her childhood home was destroyed. Everything was gone from there but memories.

Reaching her apartment, her fingers once again slid against her lips, remembering the brief kiss with her former Sensei. Since the last war, many ninjas were pairing up to procreate. The Hidden Leaf Village wasn't as populated anymore, as there were many deaths, including the passing of Neji, Ino's father and Shikamaru's father.

Kakashi was 14 years older than Sakura making him 33 now considering she was now 19. He had known her since she was 12 when he became her ninja trainer. However, thanks to Sasuke betraying the village and then later returned helped win the war, Kakashi had stopped being her trainer and she moved on to being trained by the Lady Hokage who taught her many things. Now she was all grown up and her love for Sasuke was gone.

Yes, she tried to kill Sasuke herself but after witnessing him trying to kill her twice only to be saved by Kakashi once and Naruto once all on the same day, her love for Sasuke began to die. He wasn't the same guy she went to the academy with.

"Hey Sakura!"

Startled, she jumped just as she was about to open her door. Swiftly turning, she saw her loud mouth friend approaching her.

"Whoa, you jumpy a bit today?" he asked.

Sakura scowled, hiding her embarrassment and not wanting to know she was thinking about Kakashi and his brief kiss. "Naruto!" she hissed. She clenched her fist, ready about to hit him but he quickly dodged the attack. She blinked, surprised.

He smiled. "Got to learn sometime to dodge your punches. So why don't you join me and Hinata tonight for a few drinks?"

"Drinks?" she repeated.

"Yeah. We got lots to celebrate."

"Celebrate? Why?"

He gave her a piece sign. "You'll see. So you wanna come?"

She looked at the blue-eyed man before her, since surviving through a war he had changed a lot. Yes, he was still a loud mouth but he was now well on his way to becoming Hokage. He had already finally made it to being a Jonin, thanks to the war.

"Well… I don't know…"

"Come on, I'm going to invite the whole gang. I have a special announcement to make!"

"Naruto, you know nothing…"

He put his hand up suddenly, face going right serious. "Sakura, I don't want to hear it. I know what we lost and what we didn't. And you should know those we lost would want us to celebrate and move on. We can't wallow in our sorrows and it's been two years."

Sakura lowered her head. "I know…" she breathed. Perhaps this was what she needed. She did tell Kakashi she wanted something more in life and going out for some drinks was different from her mundane life. She took a deep breath. "Alright, Naruto. I'll meet you there."

Naruto's grin returned. "Now that's the ticket! Both Hinata and I will be there around seven." He then turned away and ran off, never once suspecting Sakura had much on her mind and using their lost friends was just an excuse.

* * *

At the appointed time, Sakura arrived at the bar and quickly looked for her loud friend and his girlfriend. She soon found them at a table along with the rest of the members of former Team Gai, Sai, Sasuke, Team Kurenai and even former Team Asuma.

"Hey guys!" Sakura called.

"You made it!" Naruto grinned. "Hey Bushy Brow let Sakura have a seat."

Lee turned to see Sakura. "The beauty of youth must always have a seat!"

Tenten rolled her eyes. She may now be seeing her teammate but that still didn't stop her from groaning at his constant ramblings about youth. Their old Sensei, Gai really rubbed off on Lee.

"Thanks Lee," Sakura said as she took a seat. "When did you get back Ino?"

"This morning," the blonde replied. "I gave my report to Lady Tsunade and went straight into looking for Shikamaru who happened to be talking with Naruto."

"Yes, about that," Shikamaru said. "So now will you tell us what is going on?" he asked. "It's such a drag having to come out on the eve of leaving for mission."

Ino pouted. She had just gotten back and now her boyfriend was about to leave. Luckily he was able to tell her his mission was only actually a day job. He was asked to help out at the academy once again like he had done many times before. In fact he was considering on taking up an instructors position there. He had yet to make it to make it past a Chunin and had no desire to. He was a great fighter but he was a type of ninja who still didn't like getting his hands dirty.

"Yes, Naruto," Hinata responding softly. "Tell them."

"So you know?" asked Kiba, blinking at his friend.

"Know?" Naruto laughed. "She's the reason I've asked you all here. But there is someone else I would like to be here."

"Someone else?" Sasuke asked. "Who?"

"Am I interrupting something?" asked a very familiar voice.

Sai, Sasuke and Sakura all turned at the sound. Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Kakashi."

Sakura nearly stopped breathing at seeing her former Sensei. What was he doing there? Did Naruto ask him to join them too?

"Good! We're all here!" Naruto announced.

Sakura felt butterflies in her stomach. Why did Naruto have to ask Kakashi to this gathering? She was still reeling from her experience with her former Sensei. She looked at him for a moment to see his lone eye was staring directly at her.

"Naruto, we're getting impatient here," Kiba groaned. "Some of us do have missions to head out to tomorrow."

"Alright, alright." Naruto looked to his girlfriend. "Guys, I would like you all to be the first to know that…"

Hinata stood and held out her left hand. "Naruto proposed…" she quietly replied.

"Wha….." Kiba jerked, nearly falling out of his chair. "Are you serious!?"

Sakura gasped but kept silent. Here was another reminder that her friends were able to move on with their lives and she remained stationed… single…

"As serious as ever!" Naruto grinned. "And since you're all my closest and dearest friends, I wanted you to all know. I had hoped Iruka-Sensei would have come but he said he couldn't make it."

Ino was quick to bounce out of her chair and rushed over to Hinata in a blink of an eye. She grasped Hinata's hand, staring at the ring. "Where did you get a ring like this?! It's beautiful!"

"Naruto bought it while on a mission," the shy Hyuga responded.

"Who'd thought Naruto would become the marrying type," Lee proclaimed.

"Got to hand it to you man," Kiba grinned. "You do like to do things differently. But you know…" Kiba took on a serious tone and leaned forward, putting both hands on the table. "If you harm her, I'll have to hurt you. We may no longer be in Squads like back during our Genin days, but Hianta is still my friend and she was a member of my team."

"Oh… Kiba…" Hinata blushed, which was ignored by Ino as she continued to admire the ring.

"Not to mention me," Shino added.

"Hey don't sweat it guys," Naruto said, giving his typical sheepish look. "Why would I hurt her? I'm going to be the next Hokage."

Sasuke snorted. "We'll see. You know I'm in the running as well."

Kakashi finally removed his eyes from the girl he kissed earlier that day and looked over to his former student. Sighing he walked over to the blond. "Well Naruto, I guess congratulations are in order." He clamped a hand on the young adult.

"Thanks Kakashi-Sensei," Naruto replied. "I know. You're not our teacher but I still prefer to call you that."

Kakashi gave a nod. "If you'll excuse me Naruto, but I'll let you and your friends celebrate." The older man turned and walked away.

Sakura, not feeling in the mood to celebrate with her friend she once hated because he was so annoying, watched Kakashi leave the bar. With everyone so focused on the engaged couple, Sakura carefully slipped past everyone and followed her former teacher. Only one person noticed her leave and that person happened to be the last of the Sharingan bloodline. He never had feelings for her and he was glad she finally got over her feelings for him. He was now interested in Karin, who was exonerated, like him, and became a member of the Hidden Leaf. His eyes then moved from the entrance to the bar and continued with the festivities of Naruto's engagement.

* * *

Outside, Sakura looked left and then right. He couldn't have gotten far but yet he was nowhere in sight. She gave a deep sigh. Perhaps it was hopeless. Why did she leave the party? Was it because she wanted to talk to Kakashi about the kiss? A kiss that kept going through her mind again and again.

"Looking for me?"

Sakura jumped for the third time that day and swiftly turning to find herself face to face with the man she was chasing after to talk to him, but what would she talk to him about.

"Kakashi-Sensei!" she squeaked.

"Sakura," he started. "We've already been through this earlier today. I'm not your Sensei and haven't been for quite some time. We're equals now."

"I know…" she breathed. "It's just…" she stopped, not sure what to say. Why was she suddenly having difficultly speaking in front of him when before she never did.

Kakashi knew she was flustered from their brief kiss earlier and her chasing after him just proved she wanted to talk about the kiss. When Naruto asked him to come to the bar for something he had to say yes, he knew Sakura would be there. He knew if he went, Sakura would watch him and he would watch her to see what she'd do. When he excused himself, he had a feeling Sakura would try and follow him so to make her think he was gone, he jumped up out of sight on top of the building to watch her. Sure enough she did exactly what he suspected.

He had actually been watching her all day since he left her alone on the bench. He wanted to see what she would do and to his surprise, she was quite stunned. He found it a bit amusing when Naruto caught up with her after speaking with him about getting together and he saw Sakura jump but pretended it didn't bug her.

Kakashi had full plans on finishing their conversation and he wanted to be sure Sakura knew what she was getting into before he went further. She wasn't naïve but she wasn't as experience as he was when it came to being around the opposite sex outside of friendship.

"It's just what?" he asked.

Her eyes widened. He was playing with her. Her green eyes then narrowed. "You get some joy from this!?" she hissed suddenly.

He quirked his brow, not sure what she was talking about.

"What, just quickly kiss a girl and then let her fall apart wondering what the hell that meant! And then come up behind her like nothing happened…"

"What do you think that kiss meant?" he asked, not offend by her outburst.

She knew better though. She saw him fight more times than she could count. He was never the type to get sidetracked though he appeared to. She was always on the alert even when he looked relaxed. But with his words, she was taken aback, not sure what to say. He was outright asking her what she thought the kiss meant.

"I don't know!" she yelled out suddenly, admitting she was confused.

"Come," he replied, holding out his hand. "A conversation like this shouldn't be in front of a bar where drunken ears can hear and not fully understand what is said and create nasty rumors."

She hesitated a moment before giving in and placed her hand in his. Since he had the ability to teleport easily, she could see he wanted to take them somewhere more private.

In a puff of smoke, the two disappeared and reappeared on top of the Hokage Mountain overlooking the new and improved village, which now had different levels. She stepped away from him. "Why are we here?" she asked.

"Why else?" he asked. "To get away from the prying eyes of anyone who wishes to watch." He looked at her with a purpose. "Sakura earlier…"

"You kissed me," she breathed, looking up at him. She was a ninja and she had known the man a long time and never once had she thought he would be interested in her or any particular woman for that matter. Yes, he had dates, but never really any serious relationships and throughout the entire village no one ever saw Kakashi with anyone but the occasional date. Not even his own eternal rival knew much on the man's love life but did know the copy ninja never really taken any time for girlfriends, not even as a teen.

He stared at her silently. "And…" he knew she wasn't finished.

"And what?" she snapped. "Like I said before you get some kind of joy out of this in playing these damn head games? I'm not a child anymore Kakashi!"

He was mildly amused she didn't put an honorific in with his name. "That's obvious," he stated. "You're a talented young woman who has seen lots in her young years. I too was forced to grow up faster than I wanted to after finding my father dead and then my mother shortly there afterwards. I took life very seriously, never wanting to displease the village. But then Obito showed me my mistake. For years I thought he was dead only to learn he was a puppet to Madara and lived thanks to him. The Obito I knew as a young teen did die in that rock slide."

"That's public knowledge to all shinobi," she stated. "You and your dead friend Rin witnessed Obito be crushed and Rin gave you his Sharingan because he asked her to do it after you lost your left eye, which is the reason for the scar. The scar could have been healed with the right medical jutsus but you refused full healing, wanting to be given the constant reminder of what you lost. But what does this have anything to do with me?"

She did have a point and he knew this. "As I said, it's obvious you're not child. I may be a ninja but I'm also male."

Sakura rolled her eyes. _'Well obviously,'_ she groaned in her mind. There were many times in the past, even as a young teen when they were still a Genin and he was their Sensei, she would see an obvious bulge in his pants from time to time and would witness one while he was reading. From the private female teachings in the academy, she knew all too well how a man's body worked and of course being a medical ninja she actually knew the complete ins and outs of a male. There were times where she had to treat some of the male ninjas and they'd have to be stripped to nothing to be treated.

Kakashi ignored the roll of her eyes as he continued. "Sakura, I've watched you grow before my eyes from a young girl who thought of nothing but Sasuke to a grown woman who was able to finally put her childish dreams away when war came. You blossomed and being who I am," he was referring back to the statement of his gender, "I've seen you develop. You're a far cry from being that naïve little girl who had to get help from people. You're a beautiful woman who can have a deadly fist if pissed off and you're a very capable shinobi."

Sakura blushed at the implication of his words. The meaning wasn't lost on her. He had bare witnessed to her chest going from nearly flat chested to seeming more noticeable assets. Granted she wasn't as endowed as Ino was but she did have a chest that were noticeable if she wore the right clothes.

"And for the record, I'm not playing head games here," he replied, answering her earlier question. He gave a sigh before turning to look over the village. "Sakura, the times we live in now are a bit tough. With the shinobi war, the villagers were left to defend themselves while the ninjas did their best to protect the eight and nine tails. Normally it would be forbidden for a much older shinobi to marry a young shinobi, but that law has been abolished."

"What!?" she gasped, blush fading.

"Yes. Lady Tsunade has declared that law has been terminated as of today. It's been two years since the war ended and our shinobi are numbered in few now. All sides of the five great nations have suffered and since the allied ninja force still exists, a decree has been handed down to remove that law."

"So that means…" she began but trailed off. '_Is he saying, what I think he's saying?'_

"It means," he continued for her, turning back and took a step closer to her. "You now have your answer about why I kissed you."

She gasped, not really sure she wanted to believe it._ 'He kissed me because he's choosing me?_' Her wide green eyes suddenly saw every inch of the man before her in a new light. She could see he was standing there with one hand in his pants pocket while the other rested at his side. It was easy to see he was leaning on one foot, giving himself a slight lean. He looked relaxed and yet she could see his muscles were taunt. His one eye was lazy looking as usual and yet his eye was transfixed on her reaction.

Staring into his face, her peripheral vision saw one hand move out of his pocket and rose up to his face. He then took another step closer to her as a finger dipped into his mask. She was quick to take the last few remaining steps, forcing him to stop what he was doing. Carefully his finger slid out from his mask and his hand dropped to his side at the same time both her hands came up to his face.

In that moment when she stepped forward and saw what he was about to do, Sakura Haruno finally came to a conclusion in what she wanted. She didn't want a man like Kakashi. She wanted Kakashi and her affection grew for him since the day Sasuke tried to kill her two years ago before Obito, who was assuming the identity of Madara, declared war. Since the ending of the war, her feelings for Kakashi began to grow more and more, but she never thought to act on them because of the forbidden boundary law. Kakashi was 14 years older than her, her old teacher, it was consider taboo, but now that law was destroyed, opening the door for her to give her heart freely to Kakashi.

He smirked as he saw her dance with question, fear and permission. "Would you like to do the honors?" he asked, bringing her out of her daze.

Without a word, her fingers lifted up to the edge of his mask, dipping her fingers into the material, touching the hidden skin beneath. She took a deep gulp of air as she slowly brought his mask down. She had already briefly felt his lips so his mouth was nothing like what Naruto ever thought. Her eyes were glued to his face as his observed her with interest.

Soon his nose was revealed and she continued her slow trail down his face, revealing a clean-shaven face, as she suspected with him. Seeing his nose, she finally got to see what his mask hid. Everyone knew the shape of his nose and even how well he his jaw line was.

Her heart pitched into her throat as his upper lip was revealed. She could see he was smiling and felt his eyes on her. Her hands began to tremble and she nearly lost the nerve to finish the job. At least that was her thought until Kakashi's hands came up, clasping her wrists to steady her hands and continued where she had stopped. She was powerless to stop him as he used his strength to bring her hands down the rest of the way, revealing his entire mouth and chin.

She gasped once again, seeing his entire face, minus the forehead protector covering his left eye. He was incredibly handsome and now could see why he wore the mask though knew he had worn one since he was a child. She nearly felt like swooning when she witnessed him smile again from her reaction.

"Like what you see?" he asked, amused.

Hearing his voice come from those lips nearly made her knees give out on her. If it weren't for him still holding her hands, she would have fallen.

"Kakashi…" she breathed.

"Yes Sakura?" he asked, needing to further tease her some more. The urge to kiss her again was becoming harder and harder to ignore. He had wanted to kiss her again from the moment he saw her at Naruto's now engagement party but they both had to clear the air on a few things first, mainly on the fact she had no idea about the taboo relationship had been lifted. He remembered being summoned to the Hokage's office.

[Flashback]

"You wanted to see me, milady?" asked Kakashi as he entered the room. There before him was Gai and other Jonins he knew. Some of the men and women in the room Kakashi had known since he was a young teenager during the third Shinobi war.

"Yes. I have asked you all here for a reason," replied Tsunade as she leaned forward and looked at each Jonin in the room. "I wish for you to hear it from me first. I will be making a formal announcement tomorrow. But I thought to inform some of the best elite shinobi in the village first, especially some of the ones who are the oldest Jonins. All the ANBU have been made aware of this as this affects them too."

This surprised Kakashi but let on he wasn't. Since he was standing beside his old friend, he didn't want to make the man react. Not much surprised Kakashi anymore and when it did, Gai was always right there to rub it in.

Seeing she had all the shinobis attention, she folded her hands and gave them a strict look. "As you all know the Shinobi Alliance still exists today after two years. We're all in dire straights after the war and the smaller nations could try and take advantage of the situation. With that said, during the war we all took heavy losses. The five great nations have been reduced in numbers greatly which is why three days ago there was a summit of the Kages to discuss the matter." She stopped and took a deep breath.

"After much debate on the matter. No nation has enough forces to take on another shinobi village. The Leaf village has finally been rebuilt after Pein's attack and we're finally able to take proper missions again. The decision was tough but one was reached. It has been decided the taboo law of older shinobi dating younger ones has been abolished."

"Excuse me?" Gai blinked, not sure if he heard right. "Did I just hear you correctly?"

"Yes, Gai. You did," she stated seriously. "Before, the law was stated a shinobi could only date someone who was within a ten year difference of their partner and they could not date their former students. Well, that has been erased. It's going to take years for our shinobi forces to get back up to speed and many lives were taken from us during the war."

Everyone in the room was stunned and this time Kakashi couldn't hold back his surprise. Things had to have been desperate for the law to change that drastically.

"You may speak of this to others around you, but don't go announcing it to the world," Tsunade declared. "As I've said, I'll be making a formal announcement tomorrow. You're all dismissed."

Stunned, the Jonins began to exit the office. Kakashi, being the last to arrive, was the  
last to leave. Tsunade stood, turning away to look out her new window. "Kakashi, may I have a word with you alone for a moment?"

Immediately stopping just as he reached the door, he turned back towards the older woman, closing the door. "Yes, what is it?" he asked, doing his best to not sound as shocked as he felt.

"Kakashi, I've noticed you've been watching Sakura as of late. Is there something you'd like to tell me?"

He sighed. There was no sense in denying it. "The answer is yes milady," he replied. He knew what she was asking and if it was true the law had been lifted he didn't need to keep it secret.

"I see," she answered, understanding what he was talking about. "So this means with the law lifted, you're free to pursue her." She then turned, giving him a hard look. "Let's get one thing clear on this matter, Kakashi. She's one of my best medic ninjas and I like to think of her like a daughter. If you ever hurt her…"

Kakashi was quick to raise his hands up in a defensive gesture. "Lady Tsunade, why would I ever want to hurt her? She was my student six years ago, which is like a 'once a upon a time'."

Her eyes narrowed. "You may have never held a girlfriend but your reputation is quite the rap sheet. I'll admit you're nothing like what Jiraiya was. But Sakura is…"

"Yes, I know," he interrupted. "She's never had a boyfriend. I have watched her over the years. While she was training under you, she never had time for boyfriends and she was pinning over Sasuke, hoping he would return. Then the day came when I saw her after three years and I couldn't help but notice how much she had grown. You made myself, Naruto and Sakura a team again and we ended up being face to face with Sasuke who tried to kill her twice. Since then the war started and then afterwards she busied herself with the hospital. She's had no time for a love life."

Tsunade snorted. "You are very observant, even reading those damn books of Jiraiya's. Just please…" her voice became softer. "Take care of her. Her and Naruto is all I have left besides Shizune."

Kakashi was completely taken aback to know Lady Hokage was giving him her blessing to court Sakura. He gave a short nod. "I will milady." He turned away, leaving the Hokage tower on the trail to find Sakura, which he found her alone on a bench where she then poured her heart out about not wanting to be alone anymore. He couldn't help himself while he listened to her and gave her, her first kiss. Realizing what he was doing, he was quick to leave, allowing her time think and then he would later discuss the matter.

[End Flashback]

Sakura looked into his one eye and her hand slid up, still being held by Kakashi's. Kakashi didn't stop her as he allowed her arm to lift his where her fingers dipped into the fabric over his eye and slid it up. The Sharingan eye was closed but she could fully see the scar. He could feel her fingers trembling as her fingers then slid up to the top of the scar and gently slid down, tracing the mark all the way to the end.

Kakashi's heart was hammering in his chest, not sure how much more of this he could take. He wanted to so bad wrap his arms around her and kiss her senseless but he made his promise to the Hokage he would never hurt Sakura.

He felt like giving a sigh of relief when she stopped her tracing and cupped his cheek. His own hand limply had fallen away from her wrist when she began the trace. His other hand still held her other wrist. Suddenly both eyes opened, very shocked, not expecting the move.

As Sakura gazed into his face her overwhelming urge to kiss him became a powerful drug to her. Even though the first kiss was surprising, it was sweet and she did want to kiss him again, which was why she had such a problem earlier. She could see his body was rigged and could see he was struggling not to move too fast. When he told her the taboo law had been dismantled, that meant she was free to be with whoever she wanted and the man she wanted was always out of her reach because of the law and it was that reason she kept herself busy with work and missions but she was tired of it and didn't know how to express herself.

Now the man of her dreams was before her and there was only one response for her to do. He had opened himself up to her by revealing his face and now was the moment of truth. Standing further on her tippy toes, she leaned forward, closing her eyes as her lips slid on his.

She wanted to smile at his reaction. It wasn't often someone could knock the copy ninja off guard but when it happened, it was always a treasured moment. She knew doing this was going to distract him and it was for that reason she did it.

Feeling her lips completely took his breath away and he had to vow to pay her back for that, he could sense the amusement she found in catching him off guard. Well two could play that. Quickly getting over his shock, his other hand finally released her and both arms were quick to wrap around her back, pulling her tight against him like he had wanted to do since the party.

She gasped against his lips, indicating he startled her with his movement. It gave him great satisfaction knowing he just paid her back. Not wasting much time though her hands rose up to wrap around his neck as one of her legs suddenly lifted up on its own.

He soon pulled away, before the kiss got too strong and stared lovingly at her. He kept his arms secure around her, preventing her from moving too far back. He wasn't done kissing her, not by a long shot, but they two did need to breathe.

Smiling, she leaned her head against his shoulder and chest. "You have no idea how long I've dreamt of this," she finally responded.

His eyes widened a moment before relaxing and his embrace tightened for a second. "When did you start feeling this way?"

She chuckled. "The day you saved my life from Sasuke. My love for him died that day. You?"

His head leaned against the top of hers. "I'd have to say about the same time too. But I'd have to say more so when the war began. I had hoped your generation would have been spared from war, but I was wrong."

She tightened her arms around his neck before removing them and wrapped them around his waist. "So where do we go from here?" she asked suddenly.

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "I've never committed myself to a relationship and we both know you haven't either. So this is new territory for the both of us."

"Kakashi, did Lady Tsunade actually say that?" She was referring to the decree.

"Yes," he answered. "In fact I had just came from her office when I found sitting on the bench. I wanted you to know personally I chose you."

"You could have your pick of any woman. Why me?" she asked.

"One could ask you the same thing about me," he replied, dodging the question.

She lifted her head, forcing his head to move and scowled at him. "No way are you turning this around Kakashi! I asked first. Now, spill!"

His two eyes stared at her before his Sharingan eye closed to be sure his chakra didn't drain too much. "Because you're unique. You know my quirks, which gives you the most pros and cons about me. You're one of the best medic ninjas in the village, not to mention you're smart. Also we've worked together on many missions. I know you best out of all the women in the village. Now, answer mine," he threw back.

She rolled her eyes again. "Well I actually gave you my answer earlier today when I told you I wanted someone who is strong and knows what he's doing."

"Yes, but that doesn't explain why you've actually chosen me. You just said yourself you've had feelings for me since the declaration of the war."

She tried to pull away but his arms remained tight against her. "Fine," she huffed. "Because you know more about me than any man in the village. Yes, Naruto knew me but I knew Hinata had feelings for him so I didn't want to make mix signals there. I know Naruto was hung up on me, but after I lied to him and him witnessing Hinata get hurt by Pein, his feelings began to change. I didn't want to stand in the way of that. When Sasuke rejoined the Leaf, I no longer had feelings for him and Sai… well he's quite clueless on many things and his lack of knowledge drove me nuts."

He smiled once again, making her knees feel weak. His smile was beautiful. "Well then I guess it's good that I scooped you before anyone else could. Each shinobi is fair game now."

She grinned then. "Well I'm no longer on the market and neither are you."

"Nope."

He was quick to swoop down, claiming her lips once again just as someone was taking a walk up to the top of the Hokage Mountain. The person witness the two kiss and his face fell. He had hoped he could win Sakura's heart but seeing as someone else captured her heart, he now had to move on. He had no idea his own friend Kakashi had feelings for his former student and since hearing from Gai about the decree he felt he had a shot with Sakura. Genma was completely wrong.


End file.
